


The Price of Fame

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: When Lisa gets nervous before a large performance, Louisa helps her take her mind off it.





	The Price of Fame

Louisa walked into her bedroom and set a hot cup of coffee down on the bedside table before she sat down on the edge of the bed and gently shook her girlfriend by the shoulder.

"Hey, wake up," said Louisa gently. "You have a show tonight, remember? You have to prepare for it."

"Cancel it," said Lisa. "I can't go. I'm sick." Louisa laid her palm on Lisa's forehead, finding it to be cool.

"No you're not," said Louisa, taking her hand away. "At least, not physically. So it must be mental, then?" She'd gotten used to dealing with mental illness thanks to her new friends, but she still felt a little out of her depth. "Do you need me to call your therapist?"

"Nah," said Lisa. "It's not that bad. I'm just... nervous, I guess. I've been away for over a year, what if they think I've been away working on some great new thing and then I come back with my old stuff and they get mad? I know the fans remember me, and they love me, but they can turn on me really quickly. And I'm terrified that I'm only going to play my old songs, and then they're going to get up and leave or boo me off the stage and give bad reviews and..." She trembled, and Louisa leaned down to wrap her arms around her girlfriend.

"It's okay," said Louisa. "You were taking a break for you, working on your mental health. They'll understand, haven't you told the interviewers that?"

"Yeah, but mental illness still isn't cool," said Lisa. Louisa scoffed. "What?"

"I know you've been out of the music scene, but have you ever heard of Twenty one Pilots?" asked Louisa.

"I don't know any pilots," said Lisa, rolling over onto her back so that they were nose to nose. Lisa had awful morning breath, but Louisa didn't comment on it.

"They're a band, silly," said Louisa, smiling as her girlfriend instinctively began to play with her purple hair. It was fluffy today, she didn't feel like gelling and straightening it. "And they're super popular because a lot of people listen to their music and resonate with it. They sing about issues that a lot of mentally ill people deal with, like depression. And their fans love them for it."

"Well, I'm not about to go write songs about that," said Lisa. "I don't really want to dwell on it, you know?"

"I know," said Louisa. "But I'm just saying that if you told your fans that you had some time off to deal with some stuff, they'd understand and support you through it. Anyone who judges you for that is an asshole, and a lot of people agree that they're assholes."

"I guess," said Lisa. "But that was still a lot of time off, and I feel like I'm disappointing my fans by not coming back with new stuff."

"But you've performed before now," said Louisa. "Why are you nervous now?"

"Yeah, but that was at Leonardo's," said Lisa. "This is my first time at an actual venue, with a lot of seating. And a lot of people are coming, my agent called me yesterday to boast about how many tickets he'd sold. And I'm just going to get up there and sing my old stuff."

"So you haven't written at all?" asked Louisa. "But I saw you writing quite a few times. We'd write together, remember?" They'd had a few peaceful evenings like that, sitting side by side on the couch while Louisa typed away on her laptop and Lisa strummed chords on her guitar, sang notes and snatches of lyrics, and wrote them down in a notebook.

"Well, yeah, but some of that stuff might be a bit controversial," said Lisa. "You know, the gay stuff. I've never sang about it before, my agent cautioned me against it."

"That's also cool now," said Louisa. 

"Yeah, but it's still risky," said Lisa.

"Hmm. I have an idea," said Louisa, getting up. "Come on, get up and drink your coffee."

"Why?" asked Lisa, sitting up and pushing the covers off of herself. She stretched, then stood up and grabbed her coffee.

"Because as soon as you're ready, you are going out on a date with your girlfriend," said Louisa.

"Okay," said Lisa. "Are you trying to butter me up so I'll perform?"

"Nope, just trying to calm you down," said Louisa. "Once you're done with that and you get changed into everyday clothes, we can go."

"What kind of date are we talking about?" asked Lisa, following Louisa out into the lounge room. She liked to watch the music channel to start her day.

"A cafe date," said Louisa, heading into the kitchen. "I'll just cook you a piece of toast so you have something in your stomach."

"Sweet, thanks," said Lisa, sipping at her coffee. It tasted vaguely of chocolate, and she smiled at the knowledge that her girlfriend had flavoured it with some cocoa powder.

After quickly eating the toast and finishing her coffee, Lisa threw on a pair of her favourite ripped jeans with a blue and white striped t-shirt. She smiled, remembering all the times her girlfriend had 'accidentally' worn it. The day was warm, so she left her faux leather jacket at home today and put on sneakers instead of riding boots.

"I envy the way you look good in everything," said Louisa when Lisa emerged from the bedroom.

"You look beautiful today too," said Lisa. Louisa blushed, looking down at her flower-patterned purple and white t-shirt and pale blue jeans with purple-pink ballet flats.

"Thanks," said Louisa. "I know that it's technically autumn here but it's still pretty warm."

"It's nice, though," said Lisa.

"Yeah, it is," said Louisa, smiling. "Well, shall we get going?"

"Definitely," said Lisa. They walked over Longbridge towards the stables, enjoying the breeze that was still quite warm. It smelled wonderfully salty, too, not yet polluted by the stench of sunlight on mud.

Starshine greeted his rider with a relieved whinny, clearly having felt her earlier nerves through their special Soul Rider bond.

 _"Are you okay now?"_ asked Starshine, nuzzling Lisa as she petted him. She was glad now that she hadn't put on any make up, not that she usually wore the stuff anyway.

"Yeah, I'm feeling heaps better now," said Lisa. "Louisa is taking me on a date, and I'm not nervous at all."

"Nerves fade when you've been together for a while," said Louisa. "At least, they do when you're the famous one." 

"Aww," said Lisa, stepping away from her horse to give her girlfriend a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"But not to worry, the cafe is a little hole in the wall so nobody should bother us," said Louisa. "Smokeeye, do you want to accompany me on our date?"

 _"Of course,"_ said her favourite mare, leaning her head out over the stall door. _"I can talk to Starshine while you and Lisa are on your date. Starknight will be fine, I assume that we won't be gone long?"_

"No, we should be back before he's due for his next feed," said Louisa. "We can't take too long anyway, much as I'd like to, Lisa has a show on tonight."

 _"Sounds good to me,"_ said Starshine, swishing his tail as he looked at his mate with adoration clear in his eyes.

The four of them set off in the direction of Jarlaheim once the two horses were tacked up, deciding to go the long way through the Forgotten Fields to relive pleasant memories. Though, they did ride on the other side of the road as they passed the spot where Lisa had been taken so long ago. Fortunately, Louisa kept Lisa distracted with chatter as they passed that place, so that Lisa wouldn't feel awful before their date.

At last, Lisa and Louisa dismounted in Jarlaheim's dingy, dirty, smoke-filled alley.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Lisa.

"Yeah, Mel showed it to me yesterday," said Louisa, pushing the door open and slipping inside. Lisa stepped into a well-lit, airy place that smelled of good food and even better coffee. A huge smile grew on her face and she breathed it in deeply.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about it being a hole in the wall," said Lisa with a laugh.

"I know, right? It's one of those new hipster joints," said Louisa. "It just appeared one day. They have the fancy stuff, of course, but they also do really good coffee and some old favourites like chocolate croissants."

"Oh, you have to get me one of them," said Lisa. Louisa laughed.

"I will," said Louisa. She walked with her girlfriend over to the counter, where Lisa ordered her chocolate croissant, a double chocolate muffin, and a large hot chocolate full of froth and wafers and chocolate sprinkles. Louisa, meanwhile, went for a chai latte and a large rainbow cookie.

They sat at a table near the far wall, and Louisa smiled around bites of her cookie as she watched her girlfriend gleefully tear into her meal.

"What?" asked Lisa around a mouthful of croissant as Louisa giggled.

"I knew this would cheer you up," said Louisa.

"Yeah, chocolate's got that good stuff in it," said Lisa. "Endorphins or whatever. And to be able to eat like a pig without worrying about the paparazzi selling pics of it to magazines? It's an amazing feeling."

"The only photographs being taken in here are of the food," said Louisa, watching as a waiter took a photo of a delicious-looking bowl of curly fries slathered in bacon, cheese, and tomato sauce. She'd have to come back here for lunch tomorrow, when she was hungry enough to finish that plate. Unless Lisa wanted to share it with her, which she'd be totally fine with.

"Pity we couldn't take a photo of my drink," said Lisa, looking at the sad puddle of crumbs and froth that were all that was left of her delicious hot chocolate.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the barista took a photo of it," said Louisa. "Especially once he saw the hunger in your eyes."

"No delicious confection is safe from me when I want it," said Lisa.

"I know," said Louisa with a laugh. "I remember when I took you to one of those 'build your own ice cream' places."

"The look on the girl's face when I ordered one of everything," Lisa remembered, cackling. "And then when I actually ate it, she looked both sickened and amazed."

"I think you made it onto their wall of fame," said Louisa.

"Wouldn't surprise me," said Lisa. "And hey, if I made more business for them, so much the better. But are you sure nobody here recognises me?"

"They're hipsters, Lise, they detest popular music and only listen to indie stuff," said Louisa.

"Isn't your favourite Jortuber a hipster?" asked Lisa, raising an eyebrow.

"She's a vegan, and shush," said Louisa. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with hipsters. Especially when they create cool places like this."

"And I can hide among them," said Lisa. "That's definitely a bonus."

"The only thing missing here is cats," said Louisa. "Hmm, though maybe the Sunfields could open a cat cafe to help Freja sell her lost and abandoned kitties."

"Not a bad idea," said Lisa. "But seriously, thanks for this. I mean it." She took Louisa's hand across the table, and they smiled at each other. "I feel heaps better now. I guess I just needed some chocolate and a place where I'd be invisible."

"Some down time is always a good thing," said Louisa. "I should tell Cen about this place, actually. I'm sure her boyfriend will be just as invisible here."

"Definitely," said Lisa, nodding. "And honestly, being here, I feel comfortable enough to do something I thought I'd never have the courage to do."

"And what's that?" asked Louisa.

"I'm adding a song to my set list tonight," said Lisa. "It's a new song. About a very special girl. My girl. That's the name of the song too, by the way." Louisa grinned, her heart pounding at the thought of having a song written about her.

"Can I have the honour of being the first one to hear it?" asked Louisa.

"Of course," said Lisa, smiling at her. "We'd probably get thrown out if I played it here, though."

"Then you can give me a private performance at home," said Louisa. She managed to drink the rest of her chai latte, enjoying the warm spiciness of it, and halved the rest of her cookie with Lisa.

"Thank you," said Lisa, graciously accepting the offering of food and starting to demolish it. Louisa laughed at her girlfriend's silliness.

But when they got home, there was no laughter. Only a touch of nerves, and Lisa's wonderful singing voice, and Louisa grinning and feeling more loved than ever as she sat on the couch while Lisa played her guitar and sang to her the song about her. And then there was kissing and warm embraces on the couch.

And, by the time it came time for Lisa to leave for her performance, she left her girlfriend with a warm kiss and confidence in her ability. Even if her fans questioned her, it would be okay. She always had one fan at home, one who would support her through everything.


End file.
